Mumbai: Sixty-five per cent healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated on Friday at the 23 vaccine centres of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). For the second consecutive day, the civic body had targeted to vaccinate 10,000 beneficiaries in a single day.
According to the data shared by the civic body, 6,482 of 10,000 of Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Front Line Workers (FLWs) were inoculated in the last 24 hours. Overall, 65 per cent beneficiaries were vaccinated compared to the 61 per cent reported just a day before.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of BMC’s public health department, said, “Initially, the speed of the drive was low and now it is picking up, and we will be able to complete the drive in the targeted time. BMC noticed that whenever senior doctors have not participated in the drive and taken vaccine shots, the turnout is low. Where senior doctors have also taken the vaccine, other HCWs are more confident and the turnout is high.”
The Maharashtra government will start giving the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to the healthcare workers from February 15, an official said.
Those healthcare workers, who have received their first dose of the vaccine and completed the four-week period, will be eligible for the second dose as per the standard guidelines laid down by central health ministry, the official from the state health department.
Till Friday, a total of of 6,48,573 healthcare and frontline workers have received their first dose of the vaccine in the state.
The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive began on January 16.
